IDW Main Series #91 (Season 10, Episode 3) · 2:35am Sep 1st, 2021
This is the last of my comic reviews for now, and there's only two more comics in the main series that I'm bothering to collect. So soon my comic reviews will come to an end. And I've already done a re-review of the first twenty four comics in the main series (I feel like my reviews for main series #25 onward sum up my thoughts and feelings pretty well for what I have collected, and the ones I haven't collected are ones I don't think I ever will collect and have already comfortably seen others detail what they did wrong). Kind of sad to see the comics go out like this, but I think a look into the ups and downs of the comics and particularly of the "Season 10" run are a discussion better left to another time and place. Anyway, this third part of a four parter was continuing the story of Zecora's return to her homeland to reunite with her friends, but it seemed like that was all they were focusing on to the detriment of Rockhoof, Tempest and especially Applejack who were all supposed to be part of the story as well. And this is when I think even those who were initially quite interested in what "Season 10" had to offer began to get a feeling of dread, where most would say Zecora's story arc and all subsequent big story arcs went off the rails. Are they right in that assumption, or maybe like #89 and #90 before it this comic was able to give things enough of a spin to not feel like a total rip-off/rehash? Well, let's find out.
This issue picks up right where the previous one left off, with the group traveling through the desert. And they've already gotten lost. Zecora apparently decides this is the perfect time to try to slip into a sort of old RP session like she and her friends used to have, but all of them (except Marinia) argue about what should be done. According to Marinia, this used to happen all the time in their sessions, and Zecora once got so fed up that she basically said the group died of heat stroke. Strangely enough, the hostility between Marinia and Zecora from the previous issue is completely gone now. Zecora is perfectly willing to apologize for being so harsh and distant, and Marinia at least seems to no longer have resentment towards Zecora for leaving. A very rushed resolution that probably could've been squeezed into last issue if they hadn't been wasting time on jokes. And all of this is happening with no input from Rockhoof, Tempest or Applejack.
Soon afterward, the gang comes to a dried up chasm that is impossible to cross (Rockhoof stating the obvious). Fortunately, Desert Rose happens to be able to talk to plants and learns from some cacti that there's a bridge they can cross. And Tempest apparently draws the line of suspension of disbelief at talking to plants even in a world of magic and magical creatures (I guess you gotta draw the line somewhere though). They do manage to find said bridge though, only to find a roc that basically declares they shall not pass. Tempest doesn't take kindly to that suggestion and proposes frying the bird, but Dust Devil has a better idea: Talking to the roc. The roc as it turns out doesn't really mean any harm, it's just stranded on the bridge because it came down looking for food and can't get back up. So now, out of spite it wants to keep others from crossing. As funny as it is to subvert the usual cliche of bridge guardians/trolls not letting the heroes cross for "reasons", this is just kind of petty and mean spirited.
Fortunately, Dust Devil is still willing to help. She uses her speed to prove why she's called what she is, generating a whirlwind to lift the roc up so it can reach the higher altitude wind currents. The problem is, she overexherts herself and flies off a cliff, prompting Crystal to use her ice powers to create a sort of rollercoaster to catch Dust Devil. Tempest is actually impressed by this and in the first true sign of progress for her (and the first not joke about her being edgy) she offers to be a pen pal to Crystal since she senses they're kind of lone wolves (as long as they don't talk about their past). Then we cut to sometime later when the group is starting to suffer from the effects of the desert heat. This isn't too much of a problem, except for Crystal who is in danger of melting because she used up too much of her ice saving Dust Devil.
There are various proposals to help, including Breezie using her natural water self to rehydrate Crystal even at the expense of drying up herself. But Desert Rose comes up with the solution of borrowing water from the cacti, in exchange for a song. And that's exactly what they do. The story pauses itself in order to perform a song, which is just basically about friendship and friends being there for you. Yeah yeah, they're lampshading it and even using Tempest to make fun of the fact that they're doing this now. But that's no different than when the show would do things like make the CMC do their theme song bad on purpose. Intentionally bad is still bad. And intentionally stupid is still stupid. If it doesn't drive the plot, it's stupidity for stupidity's sake. Much like the saying "What I'm doing is wrong, I know it's wrong but I'm doing it/gonna do it anyway." this is pretty much the writers saying "What I'm doing is stupid and pointless, I know it's stupid and pointless, but I'm doing it/gonna do it anyway."
And this also is where it can be denied no longer, where it is impossible to say it's truly different. They are just rehashing "Friendship is Magic Part 2" with the group, except now they're basically telling us who is who (such as when they literally say Marini is honest). Yes, it's not exactly the same as that, but it's basically the same structure but somehow even more condensed and rushed. There were some similarities that could be drawn between Zecora and Twilight before this, but the story still felt unique enough at that point that it didn't feel like a carbon copy. This, however, is. It's perhaps the worst kind of carbon copying because it's giving the copy a fresh coat of paint and hoping you won't notice it. And lampshading the stupidity or absurdity of some of the choices for condensation don't make this go away. Lampshading your problems doesn't make them go away. The only way you get rid of problems like bad writing or plot holes is by correcting them (or avoiding them all together by checking what you write and asking yourself "Does it make sense?").
And in case the copying wasn't blatant enough, soon after the song ends the group reaches the outskirts of the temple only for the grootsnarl (which has not been a threat all issue and hasn't been mentioned once despite it being the motivation for everyone to go out into the desert in search of the temple, which just shows you how quickly it was forgotten) to come back. So Tempest and Rockhoof volunteer to fight off, meaning they're just there to be cannon fodder for an unimportant battle with an unimportant monster that they threw in solely because they needed to have a reason for Zecora and her friends to go into the desert. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang goes into the temple and finds the Tree of Harmony inside. Applejack acknowledges it as such and it looks exactly like the actual tree. There has been no effort made to change it, no effort made to at least give a new coat of paint or a new design. It's the exact same tree in a place where it shouldn't be and with no given explanation to its existence. All it does is cheapen the appeal of the Tree of Harmony because that know means there's nothing special about it, it can exist literally anywhere if the plot says so. And yet this reveal is what ends part three.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue/episode? Well, this is where this arc started to lose even me. Pausing the story for the sake of a song that they joke about and lampshade is not clever, intelligent or anything of the sort. It's lazy, low effort writing that thinks just because you poke fun at your own bad decisions that makes it okay. And it's not like the pandemic forced them to take this route, this story at least was I would assume completed before the pandemic was ever a thing. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Applejack, Rockhoof and Tempest Shadow fade into the background all together here, they accomplish nothing of substance. The focus is now entirely on Zecora and her friends. But as interesting as they might have seemed before, they start to lose their appeal fast when it becomes clear that we're just rehashing "Friendship is Magic, Part 2" in a somehow even more condensed and rushed form. If this was really the goal all along, why waste time on all the stuff before hand that was just worldbuilding for the sake of it? Why show us all this interesting lore about Zecora's homeland and about her past if all that was just going to be thrown away to toss in a Tree of Harmony and matching elements? Why even bother framing it as a mission that Applejack was going to go on if she and everyone else would just take a backseat to Zecora and her friends? Zecora proves to still be interesting enough to carry the story, whenever they do wanna focus on her. But even she suffers from the condensed and rushed pacing when her earlier conflict and hostility is just all suddenly brushed aside like it never even happened, almost as if it had no point except to "justify" this being a four parter. Still, if you're going to be picking up the other comics that make up this "arc" you might as well collect this one simply so you're not confused when Zecora and her friends are inside the temple, and Rockhoof and Tempest are not.
And there you have it, I'll upload my review of Main Series #92 which closes out this arc as soon as I get it. And then, as soon as I get it I'm going to close out my comics reviews with Main Series #(99 which is not related to any of "Season 10"'s big arcs and is all the better because of that.
Honestly, I thought the joke with the song sequence was amazing,
5576216 Is it funny? Yes. Is it all crucial to the story to the point where it must take priority over progression? No. And there in lies the problem. Sometimes, you must kill your jokes for the sake of your story.
Even today, I’ve frequently questioned the incorporation of the song to begin with. Not only was the flow of it far from smooth, but without actual music to accompany it...it was hard to really get into the musical number.
The story itself was forgettable because, like you said, it’s basically an uninspired retread of FiM’s series premiere.
Honestly, I wasn’t enraptured by her focus in the story at all. Her “backstory” and “expansion” in the previous arcs immediately made her uninteresting to me. Like I’ve been saying before, she basically came across as a Twilight Sparkle in a zebra body ever since the arc’s “exploration” of her began.
The only new character I’ve ever remembered off the top of my head was Marini, and that was only because she shared the most scenes with Zecora. However, what I can never recall is her personality and overall traits. The rest of the new characters are just plain forgettable, and that’s mainly because they’re basically zebra versions of the rest of the Main Six.
The incorporations of Rockhoof and Tempest were also absolutely pointless, even from the very first issue. All the two of them ever did was provide unnecessary forms of comic relief, and there was no sense of meaning behind why they ever came to begin with. It basically felt like they were only there to be along for the ride, and from the looks of it, it was clearly not worth the price of admission.
What about 2021 annual comic? As well as comics #100, #101, and #102?
5576511 I haven't been able to get my hands on any annuals, not even the ones based on Equestria Girls and Power Ponies. And #100-#102 do not interest me in the slightest since they are the sloppy conclusion to "Season 10".
5576519
Good point. Not to mention they’re too questionable in a great many ways.
I will say this:
The only arcs that ever got my attention were the ones with Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich.
5576521 Eh, the first one with Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich was a waste. They spent two whole issues with nothing changing for them, no confession or anything even though we know they get together by the time of "The Last Problem". Plus, it turns out Discord could've solved the whole problem whenever, but he didn't want to because he claims it would've meant the ponies never learned how to solve a problem on their own. A completely assinie excuse when they were lucky to stumble across the solution that just seems to indicate that he has now taken the opposite extreme from his Grogar masuqrade, not helping even when he could and should.
The second one with Marble Pie is better.
5576523
At least they weren’t anything like that one with Scootaloo, her parents, and her aunts, though.
Not only was the concept of the story terrible, but it did not get me to like Scootaloo’s aunts and parents in the slightest.
5576523
The one thing that I felt kind of stops me from seeing the first issue with Pinkie and Cheese as canon is the fact that Twilight was wearing her Element of Harmony crown near the end.
I mean, wasn’t it destroyed by Sombra in Season 9?
Other than that, I didn’t see anything particularly wrong with the story.
I mean, the romance between them is just getting started isn’t it?
5576529 She could've easily gotten a replica either through magic or as a gift from the forces of harmony.
5576545
Good point.
I haven’t actually read them but yeah once I heard about the all the other nations have elements thing I just shook my head and face bombed. I’m guessing the comments were made before the show had the student six reforge the treehouse of harmony